KOLKATA | Nov 16, 2016: Exports of iron ore have shot up to 7.5 million tonnes (MT) in April-August 2016, an estimated three fold jump over last year, led mainly by a spike in demand from China.

With domestic steel industry yet to pick up growth, iron ore imports have seen a significant decline to 1.59 million tonne in April -Aug 2016, falling by nearly a third compared to last year.

Overall iron ore production saw a 26% increase in April-Sept 2016 over last year with re-opening of mines closed earlier. In volume terms, domestic iron ore production went to 84 MT in April -September 2016 and is on track to post a significant increase this year over production of 66.85 MT in 2015-16.

"We are seeing a significant fall in imports in April- August this year. This augurs well for the sector since our imports for the whole year in 2015-16 was around 7.09 MT," Union Mines secretary Balvinder Kumar said, on the sidelines of the International Mining Machinery Exhibition (IMME) 2016 and Global Mining Summit 2016 here on Wednesday .

The meet, which is the largest of its kind in the country, opened amidst hopes of a revival in the mining sector this year in the wake of a slump in 2014-15 followed by an indifferent growth in 2015-16.

The mood in the industry has improved this year. GDP is poised to grow by 7-8% per year over the next ten years. This is likely to generate demand for steel, coal and other metals. This underlines the exceptional prospects for growth of the domestic mining industry, Tom Albanese, co chair of CII National Committee on Mining said.

Albanese, who is the CEO of Vedanta Resources Plc, said fast growing sectors like automobiles, housing etc would create demand for metals. The key is to step up exploration activity, bring in foreign investment and expertise in mining to match future demand with future supply so 'Make in India' should mean 'Find in India'.

Earlier addressing delegates Amit Mitra, West Bengal Finance Minister, invited mining companies to invest in the state which contributes to a fifth of India's mining output.

"We are developing Deocha Pachami, the country's largest coal block with 2102 million tonne reserves, along with five other states and would invite partners to develop it," he said.

The state's mineral development arm, WBMTDC is also partnering a PSU mining firm, KIOCL (formerly Kudremukh Iron Ore Company) to scout for iron ore in West Midnapore. Initial exploration job at Belpahari has proved successful, Mitra added.

The four day mining event has attracted exhibitors like JCB,, CAT, Volvo, Tata Hitachi, Mahindra, Sany, Leeboy, Srei Finance, Dozco, Sandvik, Atlas Copco, ABB, Puzzolana, Joy Global, L&T, BEML, Flsmidth, BKT, Bridgestone and Aeolus among others.

(Source: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/)

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